Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
As dawn broke, the flames continued to rage.
Ming Junwei and his companions had already approached the foot of the mountain, with a sky ablaze behind them and corpses strewn across the ground. The Bald Eunuch Party had come in a hurry and left just as quickly. Faced with this fierce and aggressive team, their advantage of fighting on home turf had vanished. The bushes they relied on for ambush had been reduced to scorched earth, and their primitive tools for encirclement had become mere decorations under the onslaught of firearms. The invaders pressed forward relentlessly, scattering the Bald Eunuch Party, who retreated into the forest with frantic cries. Ming Junwei had expected these bald men to fight to the death in a suicidal charge, but to his surprise, they valued their lives. Once the scales of victory tipped in their favor, the bald men decisively fled, their fierce momentum before dawn turning to ashes along with the grass.
"I caught one alive," Liu Yan ran over from the back of the group, dragging a thin bald man behind him. The bald man hadn’t managed to escape with his comrades; a stray bullet had shattered his leg as he tried to crawl back.
"Can he communicate?" Ming Junwei asked.
"His tongue has been cut out," Liu Yan shook his head helplessly. "But he can understand human speech; he was begging for mercy just now."
Everyone turned to look at the bald man, who lay on the scorched earth, clutching his broken leg and rolling in agony. His tattooed face displayed extreme pain as he let out strange cries, repeatedly banging his head against the ground.
"What does that mean?" Lin Daozhang, who had performed exceptionally well today, transformed from being trapped to becoming an Iron-Blooded Warrior after escaping. He wielded two Steel Saw Blades like windmills, pursuing and striking fiercely, achieving considerable results.
"He's begging for death," Luci said with some disgust, averting her gaze. The bald men they encountered were all similarly malnourished and mutilated, a pitiful sight.
"Take me to your hideout," Ming Junwei squatted down and grasped the bald man's head to make him look at him, pointing toward the barren mountain across from them. "Take me there, and I will treat you."
The bald man's expression twisted as he shook his head and nodded simultaneously, making various strange sounds that conveyed his utter confusion.
Ming Junwei raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet for a moment. He frowned in thought and said, "You don’t want to live, do you?"
"Ah ah ah," a flicker of clarity crossed the bald man's eyes as he nodded vigorously.
"Alright," Ming Junwei replied affirmatively, pointing again at the barren mountain. "In exchange, you will take us there."
The bald man wore an expression of deep anguish, uncontrollably pounding his head against the ground as if engaged in a fierce internal struggle.
Ming Junwei did not rush him, allowing the others to observe the situation with the zombies on the road. He leisurely lit a cigarette and offered it to the bald man's lips.
The bald man, seemingly possessed, paused for a moment, lifting his patterned face to stare blankly at Ming Junwei. Their eyes met for a long while, and to everyone's surprise, two streams of murky tears flowed from his vacant eyes.
"Go ahead and smoke," Ming Junwei sighed quietly, feeling an inexplicable sympathy welling up inside him. He pinched the cigarette and pushed it into the bald man's mouth before turning to Old Russians. "Bring the alcohol."
Old Russians' cold face suddenly flushed red, and his resolute gaze flickered slightly as he muttered, "I don't have any alcohol."
"Stop talking nonsense; I know how much alcohol I have," Ming Junwei chuckled, scolding him playfully. "Don't be stingy; there’s plenty back home."
Old Russians looked somewhat embarrassed and reluctantly fished out a flat flask from his inner pocket. As he handed it over, he grumbled, "There's not much left; save me some."
Ming Junwei took the flask, twisted off the cap, and handed it to the bald man. "No meat left; make do with this. Smoke a bit and drink some; I'll send you on your way later."
The Bald Eunuch Party trembled as he accepted the flask with his bloodied hands. His indistinguishable face was smeared with tears and dirt. Struggling to sit up, he took a deep drag from the cigarette, coughed violently for a moment, then tilted his head back to gulp down some alcohol.
Everyone remained silent, their expressions complex. The ladies sighed and turned their faces away, unable to watch any longer. There were still many bald men in the desolate mountains; there was no need for sympathy to cloud their minds. They were still enemies; humanity should only be acknowledged in moderation—excessive kindness was irresponsible towards one's own life.
Ming Junwei patiently waited for the bald man to finish smoking and drinking. He did not rush or ask questions but simply sat quietly beside him.
The bald man burped loudly, seemingly startled by himself. He paused for a moment before breaking into an odd laugh.
Song Yao reached into her pocket and found a piece of fruit candy. She had previously suffered from low blood sugar and always kept some sweets nearby; even after becoming a zombie, she retained this habit. She approached and squatted in front of the bald man, unwrapping the candy and offering it to him. The bald man looked up at her with sudden panic on his face and hurriedly bent down again to bang his head against the ground. Song Jiu supported him gently, smiling softly as she placed the fruit candy into his mouth.
The bald man held a candy in his mouth, making muffled sounds as he trembled, wiping away his tears and snot. He turned to Ming Junwei, raising his thin arm to point in a direction, babbling something.
Ming Junwei thanked him and stood up, signaling everyone to prepare to leave. Two young men hurried over to help the bald man, glancing at his bleeding severed leg. Hesitating, one of them asked, "Ming Ge, should we bandage him? He can't keep losing blood like this."
Hearing this, the bald man quickly shook his head, looking anxious as he pointed towards the mountain and nodded repeatedly.
"Can you hold on?" Ming Junwei asked.
"Ah, ah, ah," the bald man nodded vigorously.
"Let's go."
On the mountainside, in the cave.
Jiao Ziqian and a few others were digging with their bare hands, focused on their task. "What are you all doing here?" one of them asked.
"Let's not talk about that right now. What's going on inside?" Wu Wentao raised an eyebrow; he had indeed guessed correctly that the person was Song Jiu.
"It's a bit chaotic; something seems to have happened," Chu Guangxu said, pausing when he saw Zebra Stripes and the others, leaving his last words unspoken.
Jiao Ziqian panicked at this and cursed, "What the hell! Why did only Brother Jiu go?"
"That's your Brother Jiu, not mine," Chu Guangxu shot back defiantly.
"Stop arguing. Let's retreat and widen the entrance," Wu Wentao interjected to silence them. He glanced back at the flickering flames and said, "The reinforcements have arrived. Do you know where Song Jiu went?"
"He chased after them." Chu Guangxu could ignore Jiao Ziqian, but he had to follow Wu Wentao's orders. Although he didn't understand, he didn't ask further questions. He stepped back and began to dig again with a shovel, working hard for a few minutes until he finally managed to widen the entrance once more.
Jiao Ziqian and the others crawled through one after another, and Wu Wentao was the last. He glanced at Dan Fengyan and her companion, saying, "You are free now. Go wherever you want."
The two women exchanged glances, seemingly not processing what was happening. Before they could speak, Wu Wentao had already turned and squeezed through the opening.
"It's our gear." Dapeng pointed at two bags by the entrance and whispered, "Chun Yue really came in."
"What are you all doing?" Jiao Ziqian felt a bit better upon seeing one of his own and asked in surprise, "You look quite professional."
Dapeng averted his gaze without answering, cursing inwardly: What a nosy person.
"Have you seen a woman?" Ying Dou Dou was worried about Yang Chun Yue and tugged at Jiao Ziqian, signaling him to help ask.
"Oh right, Brother Jiu went back with a woman, didn't he?" Jiao Ziqian asked.
Chu Guangxu and the others exchanged glances and then recalled the woman who had suddenly jumped out to play the savior but then turned against them. They nodded blankly: "There was a woman, but she wasn't with Song Jiu."
A young man coughed lightly and added, "That woman mixed in with those ladies inside. It seems like she got brainwashed."
"Ah," Ying Dou Dou's expression fell as she murmured, "That can't be true."
"Aren't you one of them?" The young man shot a glance at Ying Dou Dou and secretly gave Jiao Ziqian a thumbs-up.
Chu Guangxu recalled how things had been back then; he still felt a chill down his spine and wasn't in a good mood towards Ying Dou Dou either. He complained, "Your friend really did well; she even egged those freaks on to deal with us."
"There's definitely a misunderstanding," Ying Dou Dou said, a bit anxious. Although she didn't know what was happening, it was clear that it wasn't good news.
"By the way, are you called Doudou?" The Direct Descendant Young Man recalled something and, upon seeing her nod, continued, "That's it then. Tomboy said you were killed by us, and then your friend turned against you."
Ying Dou Dou was momentarily speechless, her pretty face turning bright red.
"Alright, alright, let's go support Brother Jiu first." Jiao Ziqian noticed that the others seemed to want to continue arguing and quickly urged everyone to get on with their tasks. Turning around, he saw Wu Wentao squatting on the ground, examining something in the faint light filtering through a hole. Jiao Ziqian felt a bit displeased; damn it, now that they found their person, they were ignoring Brother Jiu. He slapped the Direct Descendant Young Man on the shoulder and said, "You remember the way? Let's go."
"Wait." Wu Wentao suddenly called out to the two of them, standing up with an odd expression on his face as he looked at Ying Dou Dou and Dapeng.
"Wait for what? If you don't want to go, just leave already. Why are you dragging this out?" Jiao Ziqian rolled his eyes and pulled Ying Dou Dou to turn around and leave.
"This." Wu Wentao took a couple of steps forward and grabbed Ying Dou Dou's arm, shaking a rolled-up copper plate paper in his hand. He asked, "Where did you get this Sea Chart?"
Comment 0 Comment Count